Should prostitution be legal?

In the year 1915 all U.S. states – with the exception of Nevada – banned the management and operation of brothels. Heavily influenced by the Mann Act of 1910 and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, each state eventually made laws criminalizing these institutions. Laws of which have remained active up until current day. However, I would like the reader to take a closer look at these founding organizations. Specifically, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and what exactly they stood for. In the early 20th century, the WCTU primarily campaigned over the expansion of social purities. Things such as eliminating sins from the household, the intake in virtuous practices, and the cleansing of evil from society and its government. The only issue? The WCTU, as implied, was based primarily on Christian morals.

Morality should not be tied into law. Conceptions of right and wrong vary from person to person, often derived from views such as cultural background and religious beliefs. To force one's own moral standpoint upon others would be no different from a government operating with religious persecution. Sound familiar? The 1st amendment of the U.S. constitution prohibits congress from suppressing speech, ideas, and most critically, freedom of religion. To enforce a law – in this case, laws against prostitution – with its roots tied up is any religion would be in stark contradiction with the 1st amendment, and therefore, according to the constitution itself, should not be opposed upon the people. 

But what exactly did the women of the WCTU argue against? They stated that allowing prostitution only facilitated the spread of STDs, increased violent crime and trafficking rates, and threatened feminine purity. Sex work is often times a path that adults choose out of necessity rather than pure pleasure. In times of economic difficulty people with few job opportunities, low income, or in poverty may turn to sex work as a source of income. The only problem is that the job remains illegal. The issues in which many people find troubling about sex work actually stem from its own illegal nature. By decriminalizing sex work, prostitutes would have access to the same protection laws that govern most other occupations. Laws that guarantee safety standards, employment contracts, breaks, and protection against sexual assault. Now, let us take a closer look at these examples.

One of the major concerns surrounding the transaction of sex regards the spread of STDs and STIs. A study conducted by the Infections Diseases of Poverty in 2022 concluded that the higher rates of STDs in that year directly correlated to the provision of condoms and lack of proper testing. The real risk of STD spread is not the occupation itself, it is the state of the work environment and healthcare provided to the workers. On the flip side, prostitutes with access to condoms and medical care have the same or even lower STD rates than the general public. But if this information is in fact true, then where did the concern arise from in the first place? Our perceptions of prostitutes come obscured with influence from media, social stigmas, and past beliefs. True, when visiting a brothel or sex club, one may be more prone to contracting an STD but with the legalization of these institutions health and safety regulations would then become mandatory, theoretically improving the conditions of the work space.

Furthermore, to address issues such as violence and sex trafficking, as put perfectly by Sophie Zheng, a student of UC Berkeley, “Banning prostitution doesn’t mean eliminating it. We shouldn’t be oblivious to the fact that prostitution still exists in the black market despite prohibitions. These sex workers are more vulnerable because they cannot resort to the law to protect themselves against abusive treatment for fear of prosecution.” She goes on to state that if legalized, the focus of the law would no longer be on that of the prostitute's occupation but on prosecuting the people actually responsible for the damage caused.

These laws are based on old ideas, old statistics, discriminatory ideas, and most prominently are illegal themselves. Therefore I advocate for the decriminalization of sex work in the United States. As said by Margo St. James of COYOTE (prostitutes rights organization): "The profession itself is not abusive; it's the illegality; it's the humiliation and degradation that is dealt to them at the hands of the police."

Sources:

Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Woman’s Christian Temperance Union". Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Mar. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Womans-Christian-Temperance-Union. Accessed 20 September 2025.

McWilliams, Peter. Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do. Prelude Press, 1993.

STD Rapid Test Kits. "How High Is the Risk of Getting STDs from Sex Workers?" STD Rapid Test Kits, www.stdrapidtestkits.com/blog/post/how-high-is-the-risk-of-getting-stds-from-sex-

workers?srsltid=AfmBOoqwhmFF48NnekTfofBlOKYS3Ta-__JotATB2s6_y-0WmGVf4Q6n. Accessed 20 September 2025.

Zhang, Sophie. "Why Prostitution Should be Decriminalized." Art of Writing. University of California, Berkeley, https://artofwriting.berkeley.edu/writing/Why-prostitution-should-be-decriminalized/#:~:text=

There%20are%20around%20two%20million,regulating%20and%20standardizing%20the%20industry. Accessed 20 Sept. 2025.